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Axeman of New Orleans

Also known as: The Axeman

Active

1918–1919

Region

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

State

LA

Kind

Serial

Status

Unsolved

Victims

6

Between May 1918 and October 1919, an unidentified intruder broke into homes in New Orleans and nearby Gretna at night and attacked the people inside, often with an axe from the house. Many of the victims were Italian-American grocers and their families. At least six people died and others were badly hurt. In March 1919 newspapers printed a letter, said to be from the killer, promising to spare any house where jazz was playing, and the city filled with music that night. The attacks stopped after October 1919, and the killer was never identified. The case is unsolved.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Joseph Maggio · May 23, 1918

  An Italian-American grocer.

• Catherine Maggio · May 23, 1918

  Joseph Maggio's wife.

• Harriet Lowe · June 27, 1918

  She was attacked with Louis Besumer at his grocery and died after surgery that August.

• Joseph Romano · August 10, 1918

  An elderly man who lived with his nieces; he died two days after the attack.

• Mary Cortimiglia · March 10, 1919

  The infant daughter of Charles and Rosie Cortimiglia.

• Mike Pepitone · October 27, 1919

  He was attacked in his bedroom while his wife and six children were in the house.

Timeline of locations

1. May 23, 1918
   Maggio grocery and home, Upperline and Magnolia (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Joseph and Catherine Maggio were attacked in their home behind their grocery.

2. June 27, 1918
   Besumer grocery, Dorgenois and Laharpe (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Grocer Louis Besumer and Harriet Lowe were found badly injured in the living quarters behind his store. Besumer survived; Lowe died that August.

3. August 10, 1918
   Romano home, New Orleans (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Joseph Romano was attacked in his home and died two days later of head injuries.

4. March 10, 1919
   Cortimiglia home, Gretna (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Across the river in Gretna, Charles and Rosie Cortimiglia were badly injured and their infant daughter Mary was killed.

5. October 27, 1919
   Pepitone home, New Orleans (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Mike Pepitone was attacked in his bedroom in the last attack attributed to the Axeman.

Watch, listen, read

Sources

• Axeman of New Orleans (Wikipedia)
• The Ax Man of New Orleans, the jazz-loving serial killer (Mental Floss)
• The Axeman serial killer of New Orleans (WBUR, Endless Thread, 2018)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.